International Details: Box Office as a Strong Indian Flavor

June 13th, 2010

The top films on the international scene were published on Wednesday and can be found here.

Rajneeti was the second Indian film within a few weeks to open strong on the global scene. Internationally, it earned third place with $11.01 million on 925 screens in 16 markets, which is an excellent start for this type of film. After Kites opened respectively well, it quickly collapsed. Thanks to a higher than average production budget, it will end up costing the studio money. However, this film is already well on its way to profitability and hopefully it will show much better legs.

Robin Hood remained in fourth place with $8.89 million on 5541 screens in 56 markets for a total of $172.23 million internationally and $266.72 million worldwide. It will likely start to tumble down the chart with its lack of new openings, but will pop back up in December when it opens in Japan. In the meantime, it might make it to $200 million internationally and $300 million worldwide before then.

Shrek Forever After fell to fifth place with $7.52 million on 1770 screens in 19 markets for a total of $67.15 million internationally. It had no major openings this week, but that changes next weekend when it debuts in Australia. Meanwhile, it added $3.85 million on 800 screens in Russia for a total of $45.84 million after three weeks of release. If it were to perform as well everywhere as it has in this one market, it would top $1 billion worldwide. However, this is just one market and it is far, far too early to make a prediction like that. If it can open with significantly more than $10 million in Australia and show strong legs, then we will have to look harder at its long-term chances.

Streetdance 3-D was down just 6%, which allowed it to climb into sixth place with $5.41 million on 1671 screens in 15 markets for a total of $23.15 million after just three weeks of release. It opened in Germany, scoring second place with $1.47 million on 321 screens. It remained in second place in the U.K. adding $1.65 million on 408 screens to its running tally of $12.93 million so far.

How To Train Your Dragon traded spots with Streetdance and added $4.46 million on 3516 screens in 40 markets for a total of $254.18 million internationally and $468.06 million worldwide. With Japan ahead, the film could reach $500 million worldwide.

The Servant opened in first place in South Korea and eighth place internationally with $3.85 million on 504 screens over the weekend and $5.56 million in total.

Marmaduke climbed onto the chart for the first time in its run with $3.49 million on 1495 screens in 17 markets for a still early total of $6.14 million. It opened in a number of markets, including Russia and Brazil, but it wasn't a major hit in either. In the former in finished in fifth place with $699,000 on 338 screens, while in the latter it opened in sixth place with $369,000 on 102 screens over the weekend and $531,000 in total.

Alice in Wonderland landed in tenth place with $3.24 million on 1681 screens in 27 markets for a total of $680.11 million internationally and $1.01 billion worldwide. It is now less than $10 million away from overtaking The Dark Knight for fifth place on the all-time global chart.

Iron Man 2 is fading quickly, down 57% to $2.99 million on 5658 screens in 54 markets for a total of $288.71 million internationally and $580.14 million worldwide after a month of release. After surpassing the original's international final last week, it is very close to surpassing that film's worldwide total. In fact, it might have already made it there, as it opened in Japan this weekend.

Confessions debuted in first place in Japan and 12th place internationally with $2.95 million on 266 screens. This gave the film the second best per screen average on the chart behind Rajneeti.

Clash of the Titans earned $2.43 million on 898 screens in 31 markets over the weekend for a total of $322.74 million after ten. Worldwide, the film has pulled in $484.30 million, so it should come as no surprise that a sequel is in the works.

A Nightmare On Elm Street fell to 14th with $2.42 million on 1668 screens in 39 markets for a total of $38.90 million internationally and $101.31 million worldwide. Reaching the century mark on the global box office is a reason to celebrate. The film can be considered a minor hit and will likely show a profit early in its home market run. However, I don't think this will be the first in a new franchise.

Masked Rider Den-O Trilogy: Episode Blue opened in second place in Japan with $2.12 million on 211 screens, which gave the film the third best per screen average on the chart. This means two of the three best multimillion dollar hits in terms of per screen average were from Japan.